Whitney Wade went from the waiting list to being first in line at the HealthOne Colorado Women’s Open, and she owes it all to the father of a friend.
The pro from Glasgow, Ky., wanted to play in the Women’s Open, but faced long odds until Vince Foushee agreed to enter his daughter, Kylie, as Wade’s amateur partner in the pro-am competition, paying $1,000 to the Colorado Open Foundation in the process.
With Vince Foushee caddying for his daughter, Wade made the most of her spot in the tournament by winning it — and the $11,000 that goes with first place. Despite a final-hole bogey, Wade’s even-par 72 Friday at Green Valley Ranch Golf Club was good for a one-stroke victory over former University of Oklahoma golfer Kendall Dye, who was making her pro debut.
“I don’t think it’s hit me yet that I won,” said Wade, a 23-year-old regular on the Futures Tour. “But this is a big deal for me. It’s a good win.”
The University of Georgia graduate won her third state open — Kentucky and Ohio being the previous two — with a 3-under-par 213 total, the best winning score since the Women’s Open moved to Green Valley Ranch in 2004. Only three other players finished under par: Dye (72-214), Margaret Shirley of Roswell, Ga. (72-215) and Duke senior-to-be Alison Whitaker (74-215). Whitaker, a native of Australia, captured low-amateur honors in addition to finishing third at the Women’s Open for the second time (2006 was the first).
Wade continued a trend of non-Coloradans winning the Colorado Women’s Open in the new millennium. The hometowns listed for every champion since 2000 are out of state or out of country, though 2005 winner Erin Kerr (now Erin Houtsma) is a former University of Colorado golfer and has since moved back to the state.
Only two of the top 14 finishers Friday were from Colorado. Kelly Schaub of Fort Collins tied for fifth place at 218, and Brooke Collins of Louisville, a former Colorado state high school champion, tied for seventh at 219. Collins, 13th a year ago here, matched the best round of the tournament by closing with a 68, tying her low competitive score ever.
Collins carded a personal-best eight birdies on Friday and played her final 26 holes of the tournament in 4 under par.
“I had nothing to lose,” said Collins, a sophomore-to-be on the University of Oklahoma golf team. “I just went for it all day. I wanted to finish higher than I did last year.”
One of Collins’ teammates at Oklahoma last season, Dye, was near the top of the leaderboard much of the day Friday. Wade, Dye, Whitaker and Margaret Shirley of Roswell, Ga., all held at least a share of the lead during the final nine holes. And in the last few holes it came down to Wade and Dye. But Dye fell back with bogeys on Nos. 15 and 16, and though she made a 10-foot birdie on 17, she missed a 15-footer on 18.
“I had the wrong club on both 15 and 16 and hit it over the green on both holes,” Dye said. “It’s no excuse, but I’m still getting used to the elevation.”
With her closest competitors giving ground down the stretch, Wade took a two-shot lead into the 18th hole, though she didn’t know how she stood. As it turned out, a bogey didn’t hurt her.
“Whitney played real well, and it was hard to keep trying to grind it out out there today,” Whitaker said. “I didn’t make it easy on myself.”
In winning the Colorado Women’s Open in her first try, Wade recorded three birdies and three bogeys in her final round.
“I was hoping to come here and get some confidence, and this definitely helps,” she said.
But Wade is no stranger to success. In fact, she was quite a young phenom in golf. She played high school golf at age 9, and won the Kentucky women’s state amateur at age 13, 14 and 15.
“Sometimes I think I was better back then,” she said.
As an adult, Wade was a first-team all-Southeast Conference pick all four years at Georgia, and she’s played in two U.S. Women’s Open, making the cut last year. And now she’s won three state opens — and counting.
